Dr. Leonhard den Hertog (CEPS) examines the role of funding in the EU’s external policies on migration, borders and asylum. Academic analysis has looked extensively into the political and legal resources of the EU in this area, but surprisingly little attention has been paid to the role of funding in the governance of this cooperation with third countries.

These are no longer hypothetical scenarios, mind games or exam questions for students studying EU law or international relations anymore – these are concerns that have by now become part of our everyday lives. A proposal to suspend Schengen for two years was discussed on 4 December 2015 by EU interior ministers; as to secession, you may recall the Euro-sceptic talks given by leading European politicians referring to “life outside the European Union”.

This blog post is based on a paper with the same title, co-authored by Dr. Sergio Carrera (Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Justice and Home Affairs Unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels) and by Dr. Leonhard den Hertog (researcher within the same unit at CEPS). The study will be available on the SOURCE and CEPS websites in February 2015.

In this article, Elspeth Guild (CEPS) presents the outcome of a key decision by the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal on mass surveillance, more specifically the warrantless collection and storage of digital information by governmental authorities.